Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-02-26
HOW CAN II BE SIUPrED:
THE MORPHIA HABIT GROWING
AMONG The PEOPLE.


-" ''S ~ " ~ ~ - TX
Has to Say About the Vice.
1t vas in the window OF an instri-
ment makers shop handsomely
wrought silver box that, from its shape
and general appearance, might pass as
a receptacle for matches or for snuff.
That it was not intended for either purA
pose was evident from the articles sur'
rounding it. A question addressed to
the man at work behind the counter
brought him to the window, where adj
iusting his spectacles more firmly on
his nose, he finally succeeded in discov-
ering the novelty referred 20, and drew
it out with a hook-rod." This" he said.
"is Of the newest inventions, and
though 1t be but a small thing the
price is a big thing, or would be to
some people. Do you know, sir" he
continued. that this little trinket is
worth 800? And tiny as it is it can do
more damage than its innocent looks
imply. This is a morphia case, and
though we do sell q few to doctors, the
great number Of sales are to people who
are addicted to the morphia habit. This
little spring on the bottom Of the box
opens the lid withoutthe slightest noise,
and by pressing it again when closing
It will produce a similar result" Here
he gave a short exhibition Of how
noiselessly the act Of opening or closing
it might be done. "Now, you know, Q
doctor would not especially desire such
n case, but with the people who have
formed this habit it is essential that in
INDUCING in it they should not be no
ticed by others. AS it is frequently
necessary for them to apply it when on
the street, or while travelling in the cars,
we must comply with their wishes and
make these cases and their contents as
harmless and innocent in appearance
az possible. We have adopted the sill
yer matchbox shape and this noiseless
catch, OF this account. ain this first
compartment" the Observation-Disclosures
continued, as he pointed to the first Of
the three parts into which the box was
divided, "the wires for pointing the in
jector are kept, i'll the second is q small
vial OF morpbia, in the third is a dainty
little silver injector, which looks more
like a pencil ease than the harmful
thing il is. Now, sir, you see how easily
man cauput the desired quantity into
the injector at home, and when outside
how easily he can puncture hisskin and
upon the quaint instrument aroused
the curiosity of the reporter, and on his
way home, late at night, he stopped at
a wel-anow drugstore, on a prominent
street, to ask something about the drug
itself. There he learned that the usual
amount used by physicians in their
practice, when necessity for a hypoder-
mic injection OF morphia occurred, was
from One-fourth to o~ne-e!ghth Of a
grain; that the drug was really the &C
tive principle Of opium, and that It's
indulgence as q habit was extremely
dangerous, eventually fatal, and that it
was also a very costly habit. The class
Of people" said the experienced clerk,
"who are frequently founl, through
sudden deaths or accidents that expose
the truth, to have been addicted to NOR
phia are mostly men who are living in a
hiryh ,Pnuc,,rn ctuln IN,g lnsunr olnpc
and III fact many of the upper class Of
society, and professional people are
forming this habit. / knew a promi-
nent druggist in the eastern states who
used it steadily for years, and when he
died suddenly from its effects his arms
and legs were found to be literally
biackened where the skin had been
%punctured while using the injector.
Every night some one I'M here for
it. We sell a greater amount to ladies,
and mostly young ladies, than to men.
Who they are, or 10 what class they be-
long, | cannot tell. as they only go at
intervals to one store and in this BUSH
ness curiosity would be a bad fault.
at is hard to tell just how much one
who has become h%abituated to this drug
can stand, As it depends mainly upon
the length of time they have been in
dulging in it. That is true In every
habit, and the longer they use it the more
is necessary to affect them. The habit
Is evidently growing, and it may some
day need legislation to prevent it from
becominga as popular as the use Of opium
is in China"
Observation of Stars Star.
Mckee Rankin, the actor, was a few